Dussehra festivities kick off with mukut pujan in Sangam city
ALLAHABAD: The sacred ceremony held at the ancient Lord Ram’s temple in the old locality of Allahabad marked the early beginning of Dussehra in Prayag on Saturday. As part of the age old ritual, 21 priests worshipped the nearly century old silver mukuts (crowns) of Lord Ram, Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughan at the temple and prayed for the success of one of the oldest Dussehra and Ramleela programme of the country.
People also seized the rare opportunity to worship these silver crowns as they are taken out only once a year for the ceremony.
While in other parts of country Hindus are performing ‘shraddh’ and ‘tarpan’ to pay homage to their ancestors during the 15-day ‘pitra paksha,’ the nearly 180-yearold Shree Patharchatti Ramleela Committee is gearing up for the festive season ahead.
“The pitra paksha will end on September 20 with ‘amavasya’ following which the festive season will begin. In order to prepare people for the celebrations ahead, this ‘mukut pujan’ is performed, which also marks the beginning of Allahabad Dussehera,” shares Lallu Lal Gupta ‘Saurabh’, senior member of Shree Patharchatti Ramleela Committee.
After the ceremony the beautifully crafted crowns made of 10 kgs of pure silver were taken to the residence of late Nathulal Jadia in Badshahi Mandi in a musical procession accompanying dozens of bands and giant saffron flags. “Since the crowns were designed by the family of Nathulal Jadia, master craftsmen, it is taken to his residence. Once all the rituals are completed the crowns will be kept in the safe custody of Jadia family at Navgrih temple in Rambagh,” said Rajeev Gupta, another member of Shree Patharchatti Ramleela Committee.